Our Advisors
HI’s Advisors are part of a renowned group of research and entertainment professionals, merging the worlds of academia and mainstream media. The individuals chosen for the advisory board offer insight into how entertainment can be instrumental in producing lasting social change.
Brian Abelson
Brian Abelson currently works for The New York Times as a 2013 Knight-Mozilla Fellow. Abelson received his Master’s degree in Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences at Columbia University in 2012. His research focused on the spatial dynamics of New York City’s cycling infrastructure with an eye on measuring the effectiveness of bike lanes in diminishing accidents and increasing commuting rates. He is passionate about the responsible analysis, visualization, and interpretation of data in gleaning insights about the world.
Anthony Bregman
Anthony Bregman is a New York City-based film producer with nearly a decade of experience as Head of Production at the independent film company Good Machine, and as Co-founder of the feature film production company This is That Productions. To date, Bregman has produced 11 films including The Tao of Steve, Synecdoche, NY, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Bregman currently teaches film production at Columbia University’s Graduate Film School.
Kenny Broad, PhD
Kenny Broad is Director of the University of Miami’s (UM) Leonard and Jane Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy and an Associate Professor in the Division of Marine Affairs and Policy at UM’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Additionally, he holds a joint appointment at Columbia University where he serves as Co-director of the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED). In 2006, Broad was the recipient of the prestigious National Geographic Society Emerging Explorer Award, and in 2009 was elected a Fellow National of The Explorers Club.
Eleanor Cleverly
Eleanor Cleverly most recently served as Assistant Director of the Harmony Institute. During her tenure, she oversaw media impact research for clients such as Free Press, the Ford Foundation, and MTV. In 2009, she authored FTW! Net Neutrality For The Win: How Entertainment and the Science of Influence Can Save Your Internet. Cleverly holds a master’s in Media Studies from the New School University and is currently a manager in the social media division of the global agency MEC.
Michael Douglas
Michael Douglas has been involved in the film industry for over 40 years, acting in and producing some of the most influential films of the past three decades. He has starred in The China Syndrome, Wall Street, and Traffic, and produced the Academy Award winning Best Picture One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975). In 2009, Douglas became the recipient of the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award.
Douglas Graham
Douglas Graham is the Founder of Detroit Technology Ventures, LLC (DTV), a private equity firm with a mission to introduce emerging technology companies to a diversity of adjacent industries, including the automotive and medical fields. Prior to DTV, Graham served for ten years as Economic Development Director for Detroit Renaissance, Inc., a non-profit investment organization dedicated to economic development. Graham has a BA (cum laude) in Economics and Psychology from Dartmouth College.
Ted Hope
Ted Hope is a pioneer of independent film with over fifty production credits to his name. His films have been featured 23 times at the distinguished Sundance Film Festival, three of which were honored with the Grand Jury Prize. Hope has worked with acclaimed filmmakers such as Michel Gondry, Ang Lee, and Moises Kaufman, and has founded two independent film production companies, Good Machine and This is That Productions. Some of Hope’s more noteworthy films include 21 Grams, The Savages, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Arianna Huffington
Arianna Huffington is best known as Co-founder and Editor in Chief of The Huffington Post, a progressive blog devoted to politics, entertainment, media, living, business, and the environment. Huffington is also the author of eleven books and co-hosts the popular radio political roundtable program “Left, Right & Center.” In 2006, TIME named her one of its 100 Most Influential People.
Eric Johnson, PhD
Eric Johnson is a Professor of Business and Marketing at Columbia Business School. Johnson’s research focuses on consumer and managerial decision-making and electronic commerce, and is one of the most widely cited scholars on marketing and behavioral science. Johnson is the Director of the Columbia Center for Excellence in E-Business, and Co-director of the University’s Center for Decision Sciences.
Anthony Leiserowitz, PhD
Anthony Leiserowitz is the Director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and a Research Scientist at the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. As a widely recognized expert on both domestic and international public opinion regarding global warming, Leiserowitz investigates the psychological, cultural, political, and geographic factors that drive public environmental perception and behavior.
Cameron Marlow, PhD
Cameron Marlow is a Research Scientist and In-house Sociologist at Facebook. Before joining Facebook, he ran the Social Motives group at Yahoo Research, studying social incentives for emerging online applications such as Flickr, del.icio.us, and Last.fm. His ongoing research focuses on the diffusion of information across online social networks, access to information and social capital, and the incentives that impact social media production. Marlow received his PhD from MIT.
William Ryerson
William Ryerson is the Founder and President of Population Media Center and President of the Population Institute. He has worked in the field of reproductive health for over 35 years, including two decades adapting the Sabido methodology for behavior change in media campaigns for various international public health concerns. In 2006, Ryerson was awarded the Nafis Sadik Prize for Courage from the Rotarian Action Group on Population and Development.
Sir Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an acclaimed British director and producer. Scott has been honored by the Golden Globes, Emmy Awards, BAFTA Awards, and has been nominated for three Academy Awards in Best Direction. He has directed a number of noteworthy films including Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, and American Gangster.
Drew Westen, PhD
Drew Westen is a clinical, personality, and political psychologist and neuroscientist. He is the author of three books including The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation. Westen is also the founder of Westen Strategies, LLC, a political and corporate consulting firm that has provided expert advice to numerous presidential and congressional campaigns, as well as Fortune 500 companies. Westen currently teaches at Emory University.